The Department of Agriculture (DA) disposed some 71,551 kilos of smuggled onions at the DA Research Center compound located in Sitio San Ramon, Barangay Talisayan.
Bureau of Plant and Industry Quarantine Officer Dr. Floralie Yeo Floriano said that the onions might provide risks to consumers since there was no phytosanitary permit from the port of origin.
It was recalled that the authorities confiscated the onions when the smugglers shipped them to Zamboanga City via Tawi-Tawi, where the onions came from India and were sold to a business firm in Malaysia.
According to Floriano, since there was no order from the central office that these smuggled onions will instead be donated, they will automatically be destroyed as onions are not suitable for human and animal health.
In the presence of officials and representatives of the Philippine Coast Guard, Bureau of Customs, Department of Agriculture, City Government, and local police, the smuggled onions have been buried.
